Red Bolt Garners New Grant Money, National Publicity

In2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded Continental Divide’s Red Bolt Broadband a $3.68 million grant to grow the co-op’s telecom services.

The money, made available through the USDA’s ReConnect Program, is being used to expand Red Bolt to homes, businesses and schools in the San Mateo, San Fidel and Cubero areas.

Additionally, Cibola County last year dedicated federal funds for Red Bolt service to be built to serve Seboyeta, Bibo and Moquino, as well as San Mateo.

Finally, Continental Divide and Socorro Electric Cooperative are exploring a partnership to bring Red Bolt to households and businesses in the Village of Magdalena with pilot-program money awarded by the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion.

“We’re excited to continue our mission to connect our service-area communities and surrounding ones with modern, affordable fiber-to-the-home,” said Danny Stokes, Continental Divide’s telecommunications manager.

In addition to new grant money, Continental Divide received national attention in 2022 for its internet and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services. Last summer, Red Bolt Broadband was featured in a program called “World’s Greatest!...” that aired on Bloomberg TV.

“While broadband internet service is common in most urban and suburban communities in the U.S., rural communities often lack the infrastructure and customer base necessary to entice large companies to invest in the technology. Thanks to not-for-profit electric co-ops like Continental Divide in New Mexico, this problem is becoming a thing of the past,” said Kyle Freeman, the show’s executive producer.

Later this year, Continental Divide will complete Red Bolt service to some 2,200 Pueblo of Zuni households made possible by federal, state and co-op funding.

The project, a three-year service agreement with the Zuni government, allows the tribe to pay a discounted bulk price for Red Bolt services to Zuni’s residents.

Funding from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act enabled Zuni to partner with Continental Divide. The co-op used a $3.23 million grant from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission and funded the balance of the $4.4 million network buildout.

With a population of about 7,800, the Zuni Reservation, located roughly 40 miles south of Gallup, has had to rely on much slower, less reliable satellite services and copper-based DSL connections for internet access, resulting in slow, unreliable internet service and at a cost that was unaffordable to many.

Red Bolt Broadband is delivering 1 gigabit of symmetrical speed – upload and download – to every household on the network. By comparison, satellite and DSL are typically asymmetrical and deliver uneven upload and download speeds with upload speed being a mere fraction of the download speed.

Continental Divide brought the first fiber-optic connection to Zuni in mid-2020 when the co-op built a communication trunk line that enabled Zuni Public School District facilities to increase, by tenfold, the internet speed it had previously received from a different provider. Red Bolt Broadband’s high-speed, fiber-optic internet service is made possible through electric communication upgrades throughout our electric distribution system.

Board Of Trustees

President Gottlieb announced that the number of members who registered to vote in District 1 was 265. The number of members needed to satisfy the quorum was 99. Mr. Mike Chambers was retained as District 1 Director. The number of members registered in District 3 was 21. The number of members needed to satisfy the quorum was 67. Mr. Claudio Romero was unopposed and retained as District 3 Director. The number of members registered in District 4 was 11. The number of members needed to satisfy the quorum was 8. Mr. Lloyd Ortega was unopposed and retained as District 4 Director. With no other business to come before the membership, President Gottlieb called for a motion to adjourn immediately after the grand prize drawing. A motion was made, duly seconded and carried by a unanimous vote of the members.

Keith Gottlieb • President – At-Large

Claudio Romero • Vice President – District 3

Joe Hoskins • Secretary/Treasurer – District 7

Mike Chambers • District 1

Wes Malcolm • District 2

Lloyd Ortega • District 4

Alfred Saavedra • District 5

Blanche Clawson • District 6

Vacant • District 8